The United Methodist Church
The definitive searchable archive of every Judicial Council decision from 1940 to present — the highest court of the United Methodist Church.
Decisions Indexed
Years Covered
Methodist Church Era
UMC Era
About
The Judicial Council is the highest judicial body of The United Methodist Church. Established by the Constitution of the Church, it serves as the court of final appeal and has the authority to determine the constitutionality of acts of the General Conference, jurisdictional conferences, central conferences, and annual conferences.
Since its first decision in 1940 during the Methodist Church era, the Council has issued over 1,500 numbered decisions spanning topics from church property and clergy rights to questions of constitutional governance and judicial process.
This database provides full-text search, structured tagging by topic and outcome, cross-references between related decisions, and links to the original documents on ResourceUMC.
Features
Search across titles, summaries, holdings, parties, and Discipline paragraph references.
Narrow results by church body, legal topic, decision type, and outcome using structured tags.
Follow cross-references between related decisions to trace the evolution of church law.
Every decision includes a plain-language summary and key holding, making complex rulings accessible.
2024–2028 Quadrennium
Nine members elected by the General Conference to serve as the denomination’s court of last resort.
Officers
Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, M.Div., D.D
President·Clergy
Bill Waddell, J.D.
Vice-President·Lay
Rev. Angela Brown, J.D., M.Div.
Secretary·Clergy
Members
Harriett Jane Olson, JD
Lay·Lay
Rev. Jonathan R. Ulanday, M.Div.
Clergy·Clergy
Molly Hiekoni Mwayera, LL.B., HB.L.
Lay·Lay
Rev. Taylor Walters Denyer, DTh., MDiv.
Clergy·Clergy
Rev. Tim Bruster, D.M., M.Div.
Clergy·Clergy
Andrew Vorbrich, J.D.
Lay·Lay
Alternates
Rev. Paul Perez, M.Div., MBA
Clergy·Clergy
Rev. Beverly Wilkes Null, D.M.
Clergy·Clergy
Rev. Mark C. Grafenreed, M.Div., J.D.
Clergy·Clergy
Kate Croskery-Jones, Ph.D., M.Div., J.D.
Clergy·Clergy
Erin Hawkins
Lay·Lay
Jessica Vittorio, J.D.
Lay·Lay
Kent Fulton, J.D.
Lay·Lay
Thomas Lee, J.D.
Lay·Lay
Laurie Day, M.A., MNM
Lay·Lay
Search 1,473 decisions spanning 86 years of Methodist and United Methodist church law.
Search Decisions